LOS ANGELES, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- A former Hollywood
private investigator and an entertainment lawyer were convicted Friday of
wiretapping and conspiracy charges for bugging the phones of a Los Angeles
billionaire's ex-wife during a child support dispute.
Anthony Pellicano and Terry Christensen, both 64,
face up to 10 years in federal prison and 500,000 dollars in fines each when
they are sentenced in November by a judge.
Neither defendant showed any reaction to the jury's
decision on the high-profile case when the verdicts were announced.
Pellicano and Christensen were each convicted of
conspiracy to commit wiretapping. Pellicano was also convicted of wiretapping
and Christensen was convicted of aiding and abetting a wiretap.
An attorney for the defendants' side said they are
going to appealing the verdict and fight the case all the way.
During 20 days of trial testimony, persecutors argued
that Pellicano and Christensen conspired to illegally bug the telephones of
billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's ex-wife, Lisa Bonder, who was entangled in a bitter
child support dispute in 2002 with Kerkorian.